ON CASEY’S: The historical Casey’s restaurant
in Limestone, N.Y., has been the subject of more than one RTS in
the past few months. Much of that, however, was about Casey’s more
“”recent”” history of the past 50 or so years.
[neWLine]
Today, thanks to a clipping from Paul Cobb of Florida,
we learn that Casey’s history has some even more interesting
chapters dating back to the period before the Spanish American
War.
[neWLine]
The Olean (N.Y.) Times Herald clipping of Sept. 30, 1959,
included a photo of Paul when he was a “”singing waiter”” at
Casey’s.[neWLine]
Today and tomorrow we’ll tell you more, quoting from the
clippings which stated: “”The fame of Casey’s Limestone Hotel is
not confined to the last few years. It first gained popularity in
the days prior to the Spanish American War. During those years,
many famous people from all over the East found their way to the
borderline village in the Tuna Valley.[neWLine]
“”Among them were Presidents Grover Cleveland and William
McKinley and one of the greatest boxing champions of all time, John
L. Sullivan, who had his fight training headquarters in the
Allegany County community of Belfast. Also listed in the hotel’s
guest book is the name of the ‘silver voiced orator William
Jennings Bryan.'[neWLine]
“”The rich as well as the famous signed the registry at
Casey’s in the early days of railroading. The book contains the
names of three railroad magnates who had more money than many men
could ever imagine seeing. They were George Gould, Chauncey Depew,
and Cornelius Vanderbilt.””
[neWLine]
“”Construction of Casey’s was begun in 1864 by Henry Renner, a
German immigrant, but was not completed until 1865 because of the
Civil War. In 1891, it was purchased by James Casey whose name it
bears today, and Nicholas Ruble. The latter was bought out by Mr.
Casey the following year.[neWLine]
“”Mr. Casey operated the hotel until his death in 1940. Mrs.
Casey took over the operation of the inn until 1949 when it closed
for two years.[neWLine]
“”In 1951, a former golf pro, Pat Burke, traded in his golf
clubs for a butcher knife and bought Casey’s, keeping the name and
everything else intact to preserve the establishment’s atmosphere
of the Gay Nineties Era. …””
